The Birth of Zootopia
by NickelAz
Summary: This is the story of the origins of Zootopia, the unlikely tale of how predators and prey came together and agreed to live in relative peace and harmony, and the story of the two mammals who started the whole thing in the first place. All OCs.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

* _opens book_ *

Hundreds of years ago, far before the great city of Zootopia was even conceived of, mammals roamed the earth. However, back then, there was a such thing as a food chain. Predators were on top, bugs and plants on the bottom, and prey was in the middle. It was a terrifying time for prey, constantly on alert, wondering if it was safe to close their eyes, let their guard down. On the other paw, it was difficult for predators to survive.

Despite a vast number of prey to choose from, it was nonetheless difficult to catch them. They were smart, hundreds of years of micro-evolution had helped them there. Small prey could easily burrow away, large prey were ferocious, dangerous, and hard to kill, and prey in the middle were too fast for most predators to catch. As a result, many predators slowly substituted bugs into their diet, as well as some berries and fruits. Real meat was still a primary part of any predator's diet, but it slowly became smaller and smaller. It eventually got to the point where meat was considered a delicacy. And while many thought that would be good news for prey everywhere, it really wasn't. Prey depended solely on plants and occasionally bugs, so the addition of hundreds of thousands of predators not only made it more dangerous to go out and get food, since there were predators at common feeding areas, but it also took away from the available food supply.

To solve this solution, prey built up strongholds where they could guard food they planted themselves. However, predators soon found out that raiding these strongholds for food was much easier than scavenging. The diminishing food supply and constant raids in turn caused many mammal species who were once friendly towards each other to become, simply put, unfriendly. A constant rivalry between prey and predator was a given, but rivalries between different species of predators or different species of prey began to spring up.

All of a sudden almost no species could get along with another, so as a result no technological or scientific advances could be made. All mammals stayed in their own comfort zones, unwilling to even consider improving relations or making a better life for themselves, for fear of their own survival. The quality of life remained at a fixed point, having reached its current attainable potential. Without effort, things weren't going to change. Even if some mammals wanted change, wanted advancement, it was considered impossible to get any mammals to even talk to each other, let alone get along.

This dire situation went on for decades, no side even considering a compromise. Slowly but surely, the populations of species would decline and rise again, only to repeat the cycle over and over. It was a losing fight for all sides. Still, being stubborn and close-minded, no one would accept the truth; this was going to be their life, their children's life, the children's children's life, on and on, until the end of time.

Finally, a jaguar decided this was not a life he wanted to live, it just wasn't worth it. He went around to all mammals, predator and prey alike, trying to convince them to see things his way. It took a tremendous amount of effort. He was presented with resistance, ridicule, and danger at every turn. It took months, and even then, he only had a small posse by his side. But it was that posse, those few mammals, that made the difference and enabled others to slowly see the benefits of working together. Slowly they made progress. It was painstakingly slow progress, but progress nonetheless. And eventually, they created the city of Zootopia that we know today.

His name was Roman, and this is his story.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Jax awoke in a panic. He jumped out of bed and ran throughout his house, looking for anything that shouldn't be there. Running out onto the porch, he scanned the streets. Nothing. It was still dark out, the only sound reaching his ears were crickets, chirping in the early morning. Slightly calmed, he walked back into his house. Closing the door, he turned and was greeted by the sight of his wife standing in their bedroom door frame. He lowered his eyes in embarrassment and sighed. "Oh, Elia, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Yes, but it's ok, I understand. What happened?"

Jax looked over at his daughter Ashley's room in thought. She was his angel, she was why he worried so much. Life was dangerous, and even though he knew he should teach her about all those dangers, he wanted to protect her innocence for as long as he could. "It was just a nightmare, a bad dream." He was trying to convince her as much as himself. It didn't feel like just a dream, he had a gut feeling that something was amiss. There wasn't a point in worrying his wife any more than she already was, especially not on something as insignificant as subliminal thoughts.

Elia raised an eyebrow, suspecting there was more to his sudden worry than he let on, but she let it go. "Well, since we're up, we might as well get ready for the day." He nodded in agreement.

* * *

 _Thump!_

Jax drove his hoe into the ground, chopping up the dirt. As a farmer, it was his job to maintain the community's food supply. It wasn't a job he would've chosen given the opportunity, he would much rather have been a doctor or something of the like, something more interesting, but it hadn't been up to him. All deer in the compound had their job chosen by a group of elders. He hadn't paid attention in school, so as a result, he hadn't been deemed smart enough to train in higher education. If only he could go back to his youth and change his mindset. But there was nothing he could do now. His wife had been a little smarter than he had been, so she became a supervisor at a daycare center. And, to be honest, being a farmer wasn't all that bad. It could be worse, he could have a job as a soldier, that would be boring. All they did most of the time was stand up in the guard towers and search for raiding parties. It was both a boring and dangerous job, one that could take him away from his family.

He looked up as he heard bells ringing and rested for a moment. They were changing the guards. It was a tense moment for everyone. There was always a small break in security as all the guards got situated. Luckily, as it had many other times, things seemed to be going well. Jax looked around. Everything seemed normal. Fawns were playing, bucks and does going about their work. But he still couldn't shake this feeling, a feeling of dread.

Continuing on with his work, he tried to shake his thoughts. _Ashley's birthday is coming up, I gotta find a gift for her._ He smiled. She was going to be fifteen years old, and fifteen year old does weren't hard to find gifts for. _Maybe makeup...I don't know._ A fairly stereotypical gift, but it was what she seemed to want.

* * *

 _Crack!_

" _Shh, be quiet!_ " An older jaguar hissed, glaring at the younger one.

Roman cringed, slowly picking up his foot from where he had accidentally stepped on a twig. He looked up at his older brother. "Sorry." _I finally got dad to let me come along, and now I'm gonna mess it all up._

The pack of jaguars continued on their journey through the woods. There was near total silence, the only sound coming from the jaguars as they ran through the woods. Roman was getting tired. They had been running since noon, and from the position of the sun he guessed it was around three in the afternoon, meaning they had been running nearly nonstop for three hours. Most of the others had no problem with this, many were barely breaking a sweat. But this being his first time meant he was used to such intense physical stress. He felt like he was on the verge of collapse. However, since this was his first hunt, he couldn't show any weakness. The results of this hunt would stay with him for the rest of his life. No matter how good you got at hunting, no matter the size of the mammal you brought back when you were older, the biggest thing anyone ever remembered was your first catch.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity and more, the pack stopped for a short break. They had also realized they were getting close to the deer compound, and their scouts hadn't returned yet, so without their reports, they wouldn't know what they were getting into. After a few minutes, they heard rustling in the trees ahead of them. The leader of the pack raised his paw, motioning for everyone to stay still. Some of the archers drew their bows back, pointing them at the source of the sound.

Two mammals burst through the brush, and the archers tensed in anticipation, but then they relaxed. It was just their scouts. Roman's dad, Caesar, the leader of the group, spoke up. "Well, what did you see?"

Both scouts fell over, trying to catch their breath, one holding a paw up, asking for a moment. Though they were the two most conditioned jaguars, they had been running all day, since dawn. They had had to run all the way to the compound, gather information really quick, and run back to meet the group.

After a few minutes, the older scout raised his head and spoke. "There's not a lot of security. I'm guessing since it's been so long since we've been here, they don't feel that worried about us."

Caesar snorted. "All the better for us then." The group let out a soft chuckle, and Roman, not understanding what was funny but still trying to fit in, let out a nervous one.

Once everyone quieted down, the smaller of the two scouts spoke up. "They change the guards fairly frequently, I'd say every four hours or so. You can also tell when it's happening because they ring a bell."

The big jaguar slapped his forehead with his paw and let out a content sigh, smiling. "Could they be _any_ more stupid?"

"The last bell rang about two and a half, maybe three hours ago. If we want to catch them, it'll be the best time to strike. Everyone will be mobile, but we have to really run if we're gonna make it."

Caesar closed his eyes to think of a plan. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, he opened his eyes. "Let's go."

* * *

A few hours later, the bells rang again, and there was another change in guards. This one happened right before all the fawns were to get out of school or daycare. As the guards took their posts, the bells announcing the end of the school day rang. The doors flew open and out came dozens of fawns, running in every direction. Many of the older ones would go and help their parents, either at work or by taking care of younger siblings. Normally Ashley would want to have a playdate with her friends, but not wanting to worry her husband any more than he was, Elia had just told her to go home for today.

Jax had good reason to be worried. When he was just a young fawn himself, he had experienced first hand the terrors of predators attacking your village. He remembered it vividly, as if it had happened only yesterday.

It had happened at night. Most everyone was sleeping, save the few night guards. Everything seemed quiet, nothing had happened for weeks. Jax and his parents had been sleeping in their house when his dad had heard shouting. He ran out to see what was happening, then quickly ran back inside to wake his wife and Jax up. Together they ran to a shelter, and they had almost made it, but the guards hadn't seen the attack until it was too late. The alarms hadn't come until the band of lynxes were already climbing over the walls. As Jax's family ran to the shelter, a group of three lynxes caught up with them, trying to take Jax as he was weak and couldn't put up a worthy fight. But his dad got in between them, impaling a lynx with his antlers. The other two jumped on his back and started tearing into him with their teeth and claws. One was shot in the back by a guard with an arrow, who was unfortunately struck down almost immediately after.

The last lynx, wanting to make it out alive but still have something to show for his efforts, changed his focus to Jax and his mother, who were almost at the shelter. Seeing no other easy targets he ran after them, stabbing Jax's mother with a crude knife and snatching up the young fawn. Though he was kicking and screaming, the lynx started running to the ladder they had used to get in, and he had almost made it. In one final turn of events, a sword's blade had come down on him, nearly splitting him in two. It was Elias, the commander of the guard, a massive beast of a buck. He picked Jax up and handed him to a soldier, running off to repel the last of the lynxes.

Finally, in the early morning, after the smoke had cleared, Jax learned the fate of his parents. His father had died from excessive blood loss, and his mother, though she survived, had fallen and broken her neck, resulting in her being paralyzed from the waist down. Not the most terrible fate, but it had taken it's toll on Jax. Growing up without a father was bad enough, but throughout his teenage and early adult life, he would struggle to get his mother to the shelter in the event of a raid. Throughout those years, he had seen friends and family members die or get taken, and it was very emotionally damaging for him to have to constantly relive those terrible memories.

He felt lucky that there hadn't been a raid in the years since Ashley was born. He wanted to believe that predators had moved away or died off, but he knew it was just a matter of time until they struck again. The only reason for the nearly fifteen year gap was the treaties the deer had made with neighboring predators. In exchange for not being attacked, the deer would raid other prey villages and give the bounty to the predators. It was never intended to be permanent, just long enough for the deer community to build up a sizable wall and army. A couple years ago, they had stopped supplying the predators with food and supplies obtained from raids, hoping they had enough of a defense to deter any further attacks.

Despite that, Jax felt it wasn't going to matter, and that they'd be attacked sooner or later. Over the past few months, security had slacked off. They felt safer, no one had even dared to get close before, why waste deer power? Jax knew that was a stupid way to view the situation, so he had voiced his concerns to the council of elders, but no one had listened to him. He felt betrayed, even Elias, the deer who had saved him after his family was almost slaughtered, told him there was nothing to worry about. " _We understand you have your concerns, Jax."_ He had told him. " _But we feel as though your worries are only based off fawnhood experiences. Take a look around, no one else is worried in the slightest. If it was your job to worry, you'd be sitting here instead of me right now."_ He smiled. " _But you're not, so just stick your job and trust us."_

Jax was humiliated. They may as well have laughed him away. Maybe it wasn't his job to worry, but he would regardless. He had to be prepared for his family.

He looked up, trying to see if he could spot Elia with Ashley. Scanning the large crowd, he finally spotted them coming out of the daycare center. He kept looking at them, waiting to see if they would see him. After a few seconds, he made eye contact with his wife, and she smiled at him, nudging Ashley, who also saw him and waved excitedly. He smiled. At least they were happy.

* * *

Outside the compound, lurking just past the treeline and in the darkness of the forest's canopy, the jaguar pack arrived near their target. A few jaguars climbed the trees, trying to get a better view of where the guards were. It was to no avail however, the afternoon sun was shining straight into their eyes. "What do you see?" Caesar called up, whispering, as to not call attention to their presence, but trying to still be loud enough to be heard. From the silence he received in return, it was clear no one had heard him. He rolled his eyes and grunted in frustration, making his way up the tree. It was a quiet day, nice and sunny, with a slight breeze running through the leaves, rustling them and helping hide the jaguar's movements.

Instead of repeating himself, he just examined the village. There were twelve guard towers in total, four of which faced west, towards them. Of those four, only two pointed directly in their direction, the other two were corner towers and had more to look at. Climbing up a little higher to get a better view, he could see the occupants of the towers. They looked tired, as if they had been there a while. _I guess we didn't miss the change after all._

He scrambled back down, not wanting to waste any time. Gathering everyone around, he laid out his hastily made plan. _I hope this works._ "You five," he pointed at a group. "Run around to the north side. You five," he pointed to another group. "Run around to the south side. And finally you two," he looked up at the two scouts. "Try to run around to the west side. Try to hurry, because it looks like we're gonna be cutting it close. The rest of you with me."

The smaller scout looked up at the large walls of the village, eyes widening. He voiced his concerns. "I don't think we can make it. It's at least a twenty minute run, and that's if we weren't already exhausted."

Caesar nodded, realizing he was right. "Well, if you don't make it, just join another group and go with them. If the bell rings, and you're still not in position, just go with it. Wait a few minutes so the soldiers get distracted by us, then make your move. But make it quick. Any questions?"

When no one voiced their concern, Caesar nodded. "Then let's do this."

The group dispersed and headed off to their assigned positions. Caesar sat and waited. He looked at the size of the compound, utterly impressed by the deers ingenuity. Never in a thousand years would he have thought the deer could outsmart them. They had used the fifteen year gap in raids to build up their defenses, and quite a bit at that. The last raid had been easy, no guard towers, wooden walls only twelve feet high. Now though, the jaguar shook his head, twelve guard towers, thirty foot stone walls. _Quite remarkable._

The deer had partly outsmarted them, he'd give them that. But they had underestimated the sheer numbers the jaguar had, a potentially fatal mistake. But their biggest mistake was cutting off support. Had they not, this wouldn't be happening. They could still live in peace and quiet. _They brought this upon themselves._

Jerking his head up to the sound of bells interrupting his thoughts. _It's time._ He looked to both sides, finding that at all the members of his group were looking back at him, waiting for the go ahead. He raised a clenched fist, signaling for them to wait. Staring at the guard towers, he waited until the current occupants had stepped down. Once he was sure no one would see them, he threw his fist down, signaling an advance.

* * *

Jax returned his focus to his work, chopping away at the dirt. All of a sudden he heard a loud _thump._ Looking up, he saw a deer had fallen from the guard tower, axe lodged in his chest. Jax was frozen, his eyes glued to the corpse. _No no no._ He slowly looked up, and to his horror, he was dozens of jaguars climbing over the top of the wall. He made eye contact with the jaguar responsible, fear surging through his body. Despite that, only one thought occupied his mind.

 _I have to find Elia and Ashley._

"RAID!"

He turned in a panic, trying to spot his family again. Yelling raid had incited a panic, deer running every which way. Jax started running through the crowd, looking around frantically. There was screaming and shouting, and finally the army had arrived, starting the battle. Arrows were flying, swords clanking. Deer and jaguar alike were getting trampled, the massive influx of deer from businesses or their houses crowding the streets.

Figuring his wife would take his daughter to the shelter, he started fighting to make his way there. Mammals were getting struck down left and right, some from arrows, other from swords. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ He had told people this was going to happen, but of course, no one had listened. _Idiots, all of you._ He looked around at the frantic civilian population of the village. _This could have been avoided if… No._ Jax shook his head. He had to find his loved ones. That was his priority.

* * *

Caesar held onto the top of the wall, waiting for the guard to appear. As soon as he did, the jaguar smashed his axe into the deer's chest. Unfortunately he fell out of the tower, catching the attention of a nearby deer farming. The deer looked up and saw him, turning to run and yelling " _Raid!"_

"Damn." The large jaguar mentally slapped himself. He had just ruined the few minutes they had had for a surprise attack.

He almost jumped down, before he realized why only a few had jumped down. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the deer had placed spikes into the ground, and the jaguars that had already jumped down had their legs and feet impaled, rendering them immobile. _Clever sons of does._

Seeing only one way to avoid the spikes, Caesar and the rest of the jaguar slowly climbed down the edge, some being shot in the back with arrows on the way down. After reaching the bottom, he led the charge into the hail of arrows.

* * *

Ashley turned her head up towards her mother's face, searching for some hint of reassurance that things were going to be all right. To her dismay, all she could see was panic and fear. The fawn was scared. She didn't know what to think, she didn't know what was happening, she didn't know _why_ it was happening.

She was stumbling and falling as Elia dragged her to the shelter. Her shin hit a rock and she fell, scraping both her knees on gravel. She cried out in pain, scrambling to get back up. Elia quickly stopped and ran back. "Ashley!"

She raised her head in time to see her mom get attacked by a jaguar wielding a sword. The predator raised his sword and brought it back down with great force, hitting Elia in the arm and nearly severing her lower arm off. The doe screamed as she stared in shock at her arm, then looked back up to see the jaguar raise his sword once again. As he brought it back down, he froze mid-swing, his face a mixture of surprise and confusion. He looked down at the spearhead sticking out of his chest, dropping his sword and slumping to the ground, revealing Elias.

The old buck motioned for Ashley to run towards him. She did. "Run girl!" He pointed her towards the shelter, turning away to help Elia. Ashley started running again, stumbling through the chaos.

* * *

Roman finally reached the top of the wall, though he was one of the last to make it, and came face to face with the chaos of the battle. He was stunned. Up until this very moment, his life had been filled with a constant peace, never before had he seen such a chaotic and destructive scene. All around him there was death and screaming. He sat there in a trance, all his senses numbed, his mind trying its hardest to distance itself from the sudden overload of stimuli.

A blur of motion and a sharp _whiz_ of an arrow flying right by his head snapped him back to reality. Feeling a sudden pain in his ear, he reached up. Bringing his paw back down, he saw blood and figured the arrow must've nicked his ear. He looked up and narrowly dodged another arrow. Seeing more archers aiming at him, he started to climb back down the outside of the wall, but, realizing he had to come back with something, he scrambled to get back over and down the wall.

Reaching the ground, he looked around frantically, searching for a target he could take on. After a few more minutes of searching and dodging bullets, he spotted a fawn running, no older deer around. _Not too big, but big enough. This'll be easy._ Confident in his choice, he started making his way over to capture his prey.

* * *

Ashley looked back before she got to the shelter, only to see Elias slumped over her mother, arrows riddled in his back. Two raiders came and pick him up, and more were coming for the doe, only to be driven away by a fresh wave of defenders. She changed direction to run back to her mother when suddenly the world went dark and she fell to the ground.

* * *

Jax continued running through the crowd, searching for his loved ones. His heart dropped to see his house aflame, slowly crashing down to the earth. All his possessions gone up in smoke. He turned to continue his search, stumbling back as a jaguar appeared and swung a scythe at him. He ducked, and the scythe slammed into his antlers, getting stuck. There was a moment of unease as both mammals stood in shock, but Jax took advantage of the opportunity and flung the jaguar into the flames.

The predator let out a vicious roar, his fur quickly catching fire. He stumbled out of the flames, blinded by the flames, arms swinging wildly, trying to put the flames out. Not one to want to see mammals in agony, even if they were his enemy, Jax picked up a sizable rock and smashed the jaguars head in, blood spraying onto his face and chest.

He dropped the rock and continued his search. He stumbled and fell over what he thought was a corpse at first, but upon closer inspection he realized that it was Elia. He crawled back over to her whimpering form, but he couldn't locate his daughter.

"Elia." He tried to calm her.

"A-Ashley…" She cried with a mixture of pain and distress.

Jax started to pick her up. "She… she's probably safe in the shelter." He started helping Elia towards where he presumed Ashley was.

* * *

Roman stood over the young fawn. She was still breathing, so he raised his club to finish it, but he stopped, noticing how peaceful she looked. He didn't understand why, all his life he had been eating meat, so this was no different. He tried to reason with himself, to continue what dozens of generations before him had done, but the feelings, the strange feelings he was experiencing seemed to prevent him from doing so. As much as wanted to, as much as he knew he _had_ to, he was completely unable to bring himself to finish the action, so he picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and started running towards the gate. They had been opened after the attack began, and the raiding party was starting to retreat, taking with them a few dead deer and much of the food that had been in the village.

* * *

Jax finally reached the shelter with Elia, though it was a little late seeing as how the raid seemed to be finishing. He handed her over to a nurse, made sure she was going to be taken care of, and started to make his way through the crowd, searching all the more earnestly at this point for his little fawn. "ASHLEY!"

" _Sssshhh!"_ Normally he would've cringed at the response and the glares, but right now he had more important things on his mind. He was getting near the middle of the crowd, getting exponentially more desperate by the minute. Frantically, he pushed past each deer, eyes darting around wildly, dread filling his gut. Running faster and faster, he finally reached the end.

No Ashley.

Slowly he turned to face the crowd again, his eyes blankly gazing out at each deer. He dropped to his knees, too stunned to move or speak. _She's gone…_ His precious little fawn was gone. Dead. No longer could he see her sweet smile, no longer could he hear her soft voice. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.

 _I was supposed to protect her. I failed._ He couldn't even be there for her final moments. A failure, that's what he was. He sunk to the floor, unresponsive to anything and everything. The world around blurred into a flurry of motion and sound as he closed his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Hey, I finished the first chapter! This'll be an interesting little adventure. I tried writing sad scenes, and hopefully I did alright. I'm not one to show a lot of emotion, nor do I like dealing with other people's sad feelings, but ya know, I try. Anyway, just to clear things up right off the bat, this isn't a romance story. I'm trying to write a story about the birth of Zootopia, and seeing as it happened hundreds of years before the events of the movie, I don't think it in any way possible that an interspecies relationship could be a thing. Nothing against it, but that's just the way it is.**

 **So anyway, if you liked it, you know what to do. :) I'm always open for suggestions, they help a lot.**

 **If all the cuts between the different characters were confusing, I'm sorry. It was just the easiest way that came to mind to introduce all the characters, since the events in Chapter 1 were all happening at the same time. But from this point on, the story's pretty much gonna focus on the two main characters, so there won't be any more of that cutting.**

 **Lastly, I'd like to give a shout out to Astorathgrim for pointing out mistakes and giving me advice. He's writing a story, Doors of Change, which I edit. I really like it so I suggest checking it out.**

 **Until next time. :D**


	3. Chapter 2

**Ok I lied. There are a few cuts in this chapter, but only a few.**

* * *

 _BAM!_

Ashley's eyes shot open, startled by the sudden loud sound. She sat up quickly, barely making it to an upright position before grabbing her head and grimacing in pain. There was dried blood surrounding a sizeable bump on her head, and she assumed that was the cause of her terrible migraine. The pain was so great in brought tears to her eyes.

After a few minutes of quietly whimpering, the pain started to slowly subside. She opened her eyes to observe her surroundings, and though her eyes had already adjusted to the dark, it was still difficult to see. The only light coming was from a small slit in the wall and from the open viewing slot on the door, leaving the room nearly pitch black. Attempting to look through the small crack, all she saw were unfamiliar trees. She felt around the floor. In the dim light, she tried feeling around the floor, her hoof eventually coming to rest on something dry. Picking it up, she noticed it was flaky, that it crumbled in her hoof. _Dried blood?_ Before she had a chance to investigate further, she jumped in fright as a bug skittered across her hoof. Itching where the bug's tiny limbs had tickled her, she turned her attention to the walls. They were slimy, and in some places had patches of moss growing. Slowly trying to stand up, she kept slipping on the slick stone floor, eventually giving up.

Closing her eyes, she tried listening to the things around her. The crack in the wall was whistling as the cold wind pushed its way through. There was water slowly dripping somewhere, giving the room an even more eerie feel. That was all she could hear, no matter how hard she tried. _I wonder if there's someone here. Maybe they could help me._ She thought about it. At best, someone could help her get out, and if not, things couldn't get that much worse.

She opened her mouth to whisper, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by distant, muffled shouts. Running over to the door to try and hear better, she tried to stick her small head out the viewing port. She had barely gotten her nose out when she was hit with a blunt object, smashing her nose and sending her reeling back into the room, holding her nose in severe pain, tears welling up in her eyes. The headache that had partially gone was back, in greater severity this time. Eventually, she looked up to see the guard who had hit her. He let out a deep snarl, then left.

Instead, she continued to listen from where she had fallen. She couldn't make out much of what was being said, but from what she could hear, it sounded like a fight.

" _Come here!"_

" _No, no … please!"_

A door creaked open, and there was a short scuffle. The mammal who seemed to be losing kept pleading for his aggressors to stop. Ashley's eyes widened in horror, her heartbeat getting quicker and more strong with anticipation. There were a few thuds from punches, and then a blood curdling scream, filled with terror.

Then, there was silence. Everything returned to the way it had been just a few minutes before. The only sounds were coming from the wall and the water droplets. The fawn was unsure what to think about what she had just heard, but she had her suspicions. She sat in silence, imagining all the possible scenarios, none of which ending very pleasantly for her.

After a few moments of silent thought, she was again interrupted by the sound of mammals approaching. _Nooo._ Her mind was racing, advising her to flee even though she couldn't. She argued with herself about going over to the door. Though she tried to calm herself, _No, no, just stay here and they'll ignore you,_ she knew that it wouldn't matter, especially since her potential attackers were definitely bigger and stronger that her. Making up her mind, she slowly made her way to the trapdoor. Peeking out, she saw four jaguars approaching. They paid her no attention, they were more focused on what they were carrying.

Pulling herself up as high as she could, Ashley could finally see the object, and her stomach dropped at the sight. It was a deer, throat slit, blood dripping all over the floor. His eyes were still open, blankly staring towards her, eventually making brief eye contact. She fell back from the door in surprise and shock, then quickly clambered as far from the sight as she could. Her back hit the wall, and she pulled her body into a ball, as tight as she could get it, shoulders heaving as she breathed heavily.

 _That's gonna be me…_

* * *

 _I wonder what that feeling was. I was gonna prove myself, and I… I failed. Everything was so chaotic… no one prepared me for that. I wonder what everyone will think of me._

"ROMAN!"

The young jaguar jumped and looked up from the floor, ending his train of thought and focusing on what his dad was saying. He sighed. "What?"

Caesar stared back at his son at a loss of words. He threw his paws up in frustration. "Have you even been listening to me?"

"Do you want an honest answer?"

The older jaguar's muscles tensed up in anger, but he took a deep breath and tried to relax. "That was your first hunt, and traditionally, it's the hunt where you prove yourself. For generations, hunters have gone out and proved themselves by getting an _actual_ prize, something they had to work for. It established their place in society."

"I'm sorry, did I come back with air? Because unless I'm mistaken, I did catch a deer, so what did I do wrong?"

Caesar scoffed. "Are you serious? You came back with a _fawn,_ what the hell am I supposed to do with that?" He started to mock his son with sarcasm. "Oh, I know. We can feed it, help it grow up, it can be our friend!"

Roman replied back with more sarcasm. "I'm sorry if a fawn isn't that impressive to you, but at least I got something." He took on a more serious tone. "Besides, if anything, it's _your_ fault I didn't get a more impressive deer." He smirked. "For the past fifteen years, you've been too cowardly to go out and conduct raids yourself, you had to have the deer do it for you."

In the blink of an eye, Caesar backhanded his son across the jaw. Roman took it without a word, instead choosing to simply glare back, content with his argument. There was silence as Caesar glared back for a few tense seconds, before growling in frustration, storming out of the room, and slamming the door behind him.

The young jaguar cringed at the sound and let out a long sigh. He supposed his dad was right. A fawn wasn't by any means impressive. _But he could be more supportive. At least I tried…_

A sense of anxiety overcame him. _Dinner, uugh._ Now he had to go out and face his whole tribe, who would all be curious about his first catch. Roman could just imagine the looks of disappointment on their faces.

He wished he could just not go and avoid everyone. But his dad was the leader of the raiders, so everyone would notice if he was gone. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked out to the dinner hall.

* * *

The young fawn sat in the corner of the dark room, her eyes closed, trying to imagine being anywhere but here. She tried thinking about how she had been happy just a few hours before, but her efforts were in vain. There was nothing that could trick her brain into thinking of anything but her current predicament. Unpleasant thoughts kept popping into her mind, a constant reminder of her helplessness.

A foul stench slowly made its way into the room. She gagged. _What is that?_ For a moment, she couldn't figure out what it was. Try as she might, she couldn't remember ever having experienced that smell before, and that's when it dawned on her. _Oh no, no, it can't be._

Cooked meat. Although she had already witnessed the death of the deer, nothing had prepared her for this. It added even more fuel to her terror filled nightmare. _Oh, how I wish this was just a nightmare._

Ashley wondered what happened to her parents, her friends, all the deer she knew. _Hopefully they're okay._ She couldn't bring herself to think otherwise. The only thing keeping her sane was her memory of them.

* * *

Roman walked into the dimly lit dining hall. The sun had already gone below the horizon, so the only light came from the candles or torches spread throughout the room. It was getting chilly, so someone had lit a fire in each corner. He walked over to his seat and quietly took his place at the dinner table. Remaining silent, he listened to the sounds of chatter and laughter around him. Looking down, he tried to avoid eye contact with anyone so he could be left in peace. _Please, no one talk to me…_

For a moment, it seemed no one noticed him. But eventually, against his unspoken wishes, a slightly older jaguar who had gone on the raid called out to him. "Hey, Roman."

The already disgruntled jaguar let out a long sigh in annoyance. _Caden, you conceited little ass._ Of all the jaguars in the area, it had to be Caden to speak to him. Roman could think of many words to describe him; arrogant, vain, egocentric, the list could go on for quite a while. Though there were many jaguars like him, Caden was the worst of them all. Roman knew Caden would tell everyone about the fawn he brought back, just to make himself look better. He took a deep breath and replied in a gruff voice. " _What?_ "

Caden laughed sarcastically. "Ho, ho, look out! Someone's grumpy." He playfully punched Roman on the shoulder, causing him to snarl in defense. The older jaguar backed away, paws up in surrender. "Seriously though, I wanted to congratulate you on completing your first raid! It's a big moment for you."

Roman looked back at him incredulously. "It… it was your first raid too."

Caden smiled. "Oh, that's right. Congratulations to me!" He looked back at Roman, waiting for some praise. The now incredibly aggravated jaguar stared back, locking eyes. Neither jaguar moved for a few tense seconds, and eventually Caden half grinned uncomfortably and changed the subject. "Sooo, what did you get? Ooo, I bet it's something _amazing_!"

Roman chose not to answer, instead turning away and looking at the rest of the room. Jaguars were still filing in, but dinner was almost ready to begin. _Everyone looks content. I bet they all got something impressive, or did something impressive._ He looked over to where his dad was sitting. Caesar didn't look too mad, he must've gotten over the argument. _Yeah, right, and I can fly._ He wondered if Caden had finally left to go bother someone else. _Please be gone, pleeease be gone…_ He turned, and to his dismay, he was greeted with the sight of Caden's godawful smirk.

He motioned for Roman to continue. "Well?"

 _Well, he's gonna find out one way or another._ The young jaguar replied in a feeble voice. "A fawn…"

"'What?"

A little louder this time. "A fawn."

Caden was almost certain of what he had heard, but still he wanted a guarantee. One last time he asked with a cruel smile. "I'm sorry, you got _what_?"

Roman stood up abruptly, all of a sudden looking down at the older jaguar. He had forgotten about their height difference. Caden was two years older, but Roman was five or six inches taller and quite a bit stronger. _And I've also got the upper hand in intelligence._ He snarled down at him, hoping he'd be intimidated and wouldn't say anything. "A… _Fawn…"_

Caden's jaw dropped in mock surprise. He started to raise his voice, not yelling, but loud enough for jaguars in the immediate area to hear. "Wow! You got a _fawn…_ gotta say, I'm impressed. I didn't know you were so brave, so strong. What a great contribution to the pack's plunders!" Nearby jaguars were starting to pay attention to Caden's outburst. They started whispering about it and that slowly got the attention of more and more jaguars. Eventually, the whole hall had gotten word of what had happened, and the fawn that Roman had brought back. His body temperature started to rise, both in embarrassment and anger.

Trying to minimize the fallout from Caden's ranting, Roman turned to leave. Unable to quit while he was ahead, Caden reached out and grabbed Roman's shoulder, pushing the younger jaguar over his anger limit. Roman turned and grabbed Caden's arm, twisted it, and yanked up, snapping it at the elbow. Everyone stopped, and the hall went almost dead silent, the only sound being Caden's pain filled howls.

As his adrenaline levels subsided, Roman eventually realized what he had done. _Little prick deserved it._ Though in his mind, he felt Caden had gotten what he had coming to him, he was sure no one else felt that way. _Too bad._ Not waiting around to see what would happen, he hurried out of the hall and into the moonlit forest.

* * *

Roman slowly made his way around the forest, enjoying the peace and tranquility that it brought. No judgemental spectators, no obnoxious asses, nothing. Just the trees and himself. Looking over to his right, he decided to climb a nearby hill to get a better view.

Making his way up the hill, he decided to just go straight up instead of going up on a trail. He started his way up, climbing of fallen trees and through dense grass. It wasn't a tall hill, so he hiked up fairly quickly and with ease.

Once he reached the summit, he looked back toward the camp. It was a rather large camp, one of the biggest in the valley. He didn't know exactly how many jaguars there were, but he knew it was somewhere around seven hundred or so. The feast appeared to have continued. Faint music reaching his ears confirmed his suspicions. _I wonder how Caden's doing. Hopefully not well._ Roman knew good and well he'd be receiving a lot of flak for his actions, so hopefully it was worth it.

He looked around to see the other camps within view. Thin streams of smoke gently drifted into the night sky from the many bonfires. Many of the nearby camps were predators camps. There was only one prey camp, but no one would touch it because there were elephants, a notoriously hard mammal to kill. Understandably, prey didn't want to be near their mortal enemies. As a result, there were mostly predator only communities and prey only communities. It had started off that way, and had remained the same ever since. The only big change was when different species began to turn on each other. No longer would prey come to another prey's aid when attacked, and no longer would predator join together and raid prey villages together. There was no trust, and without trust, society as it had been crumbled away, leaving the dystopia he lived in.

Now, many predators relied on threats to survive, threatening prey to do their dirty work or get attacked. It worked, but only for a little while. Eventually, the prey would grow strong and stop helping the predators, which led to an attack from the predators. But even predators weren't safe from attack. Some larger prey mammals would attack smaller predators, and predators would even attack each other. It was a very chaotic, very violent world.

Roman hadn't experienced much violence in his life, no neighboring community would attack them. The valley in which he lived in was fairly peaceful. Only larger predators and the elephants lived here, so their size was a deterrent to violence. The raid he had been involved in just a few hours before had been the first case of extreme violence he had ever experienced. As a cub, no one had told him the truth about how they got their food, and he had never cared to ask.

His thoughts made their way back to the day's fiasco. He remembered the fawn he had brought back. A stupid mistake, but he didn't feel that mad about it. Rather, he felt… _guilty?_ _That's weird._ It was nature's way to eat other animals, though it used to be done in a different way, but that didn't change reality. It also didn't change the way he felt. He felt genuinely remorseful for his actions. Ripping a child away from her family, that was low. _Well, that's just the way life is._ But did it have to be?

 _Yeah, it has to be. It's been this way since the beginning of time, and it will continue on forever. Perfect or not, that's what works and no one will or can change that._ That's what he thought, what he figured must be true, but there was no conviction behind his beliefs. The foundation on which they stood was crumbling. Everything he was taught growing up was being challenged, and he was scared. He didn't know if that was bad or good, and he wasn't even sure if he truly believed in what he thought he believed. Unsure of exactly what to think, he slowly came to the realization that he didn't want to play a part in all the violence. What that would mean for him, for his survival, he didn't know. However, even if he was disowned by his family and friends, it didn't matter to him.

But it would matter to everyone else, especially his dad. _Uugh._ Being the son of one of the most powerful jaguars in the village was stressful. It had it's perks, but nothing could relieve the stress and pressure he felt. Everything in his life had to be perfect, he had to meet everyone's expectations all the time, and all for a life he didn't want. _Oh well, that's their problem and this is my life._

Looking back over at his home camp, he rested his eyes on the cell blocks. _I wonder how that fawn is doing._ Everytime he thought about it, he felt a little worse. _But what can I do now. What's done is done._ His subconscious started nagging him, telling him knew that wasn't totally true. He could go make her short stay a little more enjoyable. _Because that's possible._ Helping her escape, that was an option. _A stupid option, I'd get killed. Although…_ He could help her escape and get back to her family. Right a wrong, ease his conscience a little. There would be a few complications. For one, he might have his former friends try hunting him down for the fawn. Though that was unlikely, seeing as how a fawn is small and not worth the trouble, as evidenced by his recent humiliation, but it was still a possibility. Second, he didn't know how to get back to her village, so that would be an issue, but that was nothing a map couldn't fix. Lastly, he didn't know how to approach the fawn, or if he got her to trust him, how to deal with the deer at her home.

Nevertheless, there was no time to waste. He didn't want to have to deal with the other jaguars at camp, so he'd have to move fast. As fast as he could without falling, he made his way down the hill and towards the cell blocks.

* * *

Ashley laid on the hard ground, while her head spun in a flurry of emotions. There was sadness, fear, anxiety, but the most dominate was boredom. The time crawled by, making her ordeal seem incredibly long. The suspense grew slowly, but it was put off by long hours of nothing. She had accepted her fate, and there was nothing she could do about it, so why worry about it?

The long silence was broken by someone talking to her through the crack in the wall. "Hello?" She was startled by the sudden conversation, and at first a little suspicious. "Hellooo?" _Oh, what the hell._

"Uh… hello?"

"Uh, hi… how are you doing?" He sighed in embarrassment. _What a great question._

The fawn was taken aback. _That's a stupid question._ "Well, I'm in a prison, so that's not good. I'm also surrounded by mammals who would like nothing more than to eat me, so there's that." She thought for a moment. "What are you doing here?"

Roman smiled slightly at his witty, unspoken response. _I'm here to rescue you._ "Well, uh, to put this plainly, I'm here to… rescue you?" He cringed at how cliché it sounded. _Why did I say that?_

Ashley was not reassured to hear him say that. "Okay… how do you plan to do that?"

The jaguar opened his mouth to respond, but found he had no words. In hindsight, a plan might have been a good idea. But, not wanting to waste time, he told her the truth. "To be honest, I just figured I'd get you out and we'd run."

She was concerned about the lack of planning, but she figured it was her only option, so she agreed. "Okay, if you're sure." Roman turned to get her out, but she called out one last time. "Do you know where the keys are?"

He replied without thinking. "Yes…" _Oh no._

"How?"

"Uh, surveillance." He quickly left to avoid any further questions.

Reaching the door to the cells, he peeked in to see if there were any guards. Luckily, they were all at the feast, so, for the moment at least, there was nothing to worry about. Still, trying to be stealthy, he opened the door ever so slowly and slipped inside. Once in, he grabbed the keys off the wall and made his way over to the fawn's cell. Right before he was about to make himself visible, he stopped. _What if she recognizes me?_ It was already going to be hard enough to convince her to come with him and actually stay with him, a jaguar, the species just that had attacked her village and taken her prisoner. It would be even harder, if that was even possible, to convince her to trust her actual attacker. _Oh, please don't recognize me._ He'd tell her, just after she was safe.

He put the key into the lock and turned it. It clicked as it unlocked and started to swing open, but Roman caught it, holding it closed for just a moment. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for her expected surprise and swung the door open. Unfortunately, he didn't realize she had been standing right in front of the door, so it slammed into her, throwing her back onto the ground.

She fell back and hit the ground hard, an audible _oof_ coming out as a result of her getting her breath knocked out. The jaguar's eyes opened in shock, and he ran over to help her up. "Ah, man, I'm really sorry! I didn't realize you were standing there."

"Oh, it's oka-" Her eyes opened and her response was cut short as she realized there was a jaguar standing over her. She opened her mouth to scream, but Roman clamped his paw over her muzzle, limiting her cry for help to a muffled breath of air. Still desperate to escape his grasp, Ashley hit him in the eye with her hoof. Without released his hold, he reached up to touch his eye. He growled in pain, causing her to squirm even more.

Becoming aware he was losing his grip, he reached down from touching his eye and tried to hold her still. " _Quiet!"_ He hissed. Realizing she was fighting an unwinnable fight, she stopped struggling and quieted down. "Thank you. Let's try this again." He took a deep breath. "Hi, I'm Roman, and yes, as strange as it seems, I'm here to help you escape. Don't ask me why, we don't have time, so let's go because time is of the essence. Lastly, since you know my name, I think it's fair that I know yours."

He looked into her eyes, waiting for her to calm down. She wasn't sure if she should trust him, but she didn't have a choice. It was trust him or die, and so she decided to trust him.

Seeing that her muscles were relaxing, Roman removed his paw from her muzzle. "I… I'm Ashley."

"Nice to meet you." _For the second time._ He stood up and then proceeded to help her up.

"Alright, just follow my lead." He turned to leave, but turned back for one last comment. "Also, I can't stop you from trying to run, but if you do, you'll most likely end up in another camp of preds. So, unless you're a fan of death, stay on my tail… but not literally."

He peeked out the door and was greeted by nothing. Motioning for the fawn to follow, he quietly made his way down the hall, arriving at the door that led outside. Taking a deep breath, he looked back and Ashley and nodded, then quietly opened the door and held it until she was also outside.

They started running away from the camp blindly, but stopped when Roman held up his paw. "Uh, actually I forgot a map, and I don't know where I'm going." He looked around and thought for a moment, spotting a cluster of tall bushes.

He pointed. "Go hide over behind those bushes and be quiet. And _please_ don't run away."

Without a word, Ashley ran over and hid. Hoping she would trust him and not leave, Roman ran back into the camp to get a map from the storehouse.

Arriving at the storehouse, he found it dark. He opened the door, and slowly walked inside, listening for any signs of life. Content no one was in the building, he picked up the pace and ran up the stairs to grab a map. Easily finding one on the wall, he carefully tore it down and tucked it in his belt.

Running back downstairs, he thought he had successfully obtained the map undetected until he opened the door and was greeted by the storehouse guard. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be here."

 _I don't have time for this._ "Oh, you know, I was just-" Without warning, he slammed his fist in the guard's face, then hurriedly threw him into the wall, knocking him out. A smile broke out across his face. _Alright, badass Roman._ He dragged the guard inside, and closed the door. Looking around to see if anyone had seen the altercation. Content that there was no one around, he hurried back to where he had left Ashley.

Once he got back, he softly called out. "Ashley…" No response. _Are you serious?_ A little louder. "Ashley…"

The fawn emerged from the brush. Roman sighed in relief. "Alright, let's go." Together, under the cover of darkness, with only the moon and stars lighting their way, they ran off into the wilderness.

* * *

 **Yeah! Can I hear a** **cliché?** _ **Cliché!**_ **¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯** **I do what I want.**

 **Anyway, thank you very much for reading! I hope you liked it, I definitely did. And if you haven't and you'd like to, drop a follow/favorite or a comment, let me know how ya feel. I'm open to suggestions, plot or character, so if you wanna see something, let me know and I'll consider it.**

 **I see a lot of authors reply to comments, and I think it helps connect the author to the audience, so I'll try it as well. I only have one so far, so this'll be short.**

 **SomeGuyWhoWritesBetterThanYou - I'm sorry that you feel that way. However, let me explain. I made the introduction bold and italicized because I wanted to distinguish the narration from the story. I wanted it to feel like movies where there's a narration at the beginning as a book opens, and then you watch the the rest of the story. Sorry you didn't like it, but it's what I wanted to do, so oh well. :D**

 **Thanks to Astorathgrim for help with editing and ideas.**

 **With that, I'll leave you til next time.** **Tschüss!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Sorry this took so long to release. I'm visiting family at the moment, and I can barely get a moment to myself. That's what happens when you have a huge family…** **¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

Fluttering his eyes, the jaguar looked around. The forest was silent, eerily silent. His ears started humming from the absence of sound. Looking around, trying to observe his surroundings, he only noticed the heavy fog, so dense that he could only make out the outlines of the distant trees. The canopy and the fog made the forest look dim, but it wasn't dark enough to be night. "Hello?" He called out. The distant leaves rustled, but the jaguar couldn't tell if it was from the wind or from a mammal. "Hello?" Nothing.

He slowly began to walk forward, attempting to be as quiet as he could. As he tried to listen for any sounds of life, his ears were met only with leaves rustling and the occasional bug's mating call. He wandered aimlessly for quite a while without encountering anything or anyone. It still appeared as though he was lost, and he couldn't find anything familiar.

Soon, his nose picked up on a foul stench. The odor caused his nose to recoil instantly. Though, the jaguar didn't have anywhere else to go, so he sniffed the air and tried to find the source of the smell. It was faint, but eventually he found the general area it was coming from.

The stench grew stronger with each step but it wasn't enough for the predator as he started walking faster, getting impatient that he hadn't found the source yet. All of a sudden, his foot gripped onto what felt like a loose branch, causing him to trip and slam into the forest floor, scraping up his forearms in the process. Groaning in pain, he slowly lifted himself up and gazed to the object below him.

It was a deer skeleton. A few scraps of clothing lay on and around the body. There were teeth and claw marks on almost every bone, but surprisingly the skeleton was still in one piece.

It was nothing out of the ordinary. There were most likely dozens, if not hundreds of skeletons of all species scattered throughout the forest. Sometimes animals got lost, sometimes they were eaten on the way back from a raid. But something about _this_ deer gave the jaguar an uneasy feeling.

Cautiously, he sniffed the carcass. Though there were mostly bones, there was a little flesh left, but it wasn't the main source of the fetor. He looked around as he dusted himself off, trying to reassure himself that there was no one around, that he was safe. Slightly more confident with the silence, he stepped forward a little farther but unfortunately stumbled onto another skeleton, this one belonging to a jaguar.

His heart started beating quickly as if it would burst out of his chest. Slowly, he crept forward to get a better look at the bones. It was in a similar state to the deer skeleton, although there were no teeth or claw marks that could be seen. The coincidence of finding a dead deer and jaguar so close together gave the young feline chills up and down his spine, but that's all it was, a coincidence. _Right?_ His fur started to stand on end from the strangeness of it all, and he could feel his body heating up. The whole ordeal was creeping him out, but he was still intrigued by it's coincidental nature. He started to back away but a crunching noise under his feet drew his attention downward, and he saw that it was a map of the valley, the same exact one he had taken from the storehouse in his village. _Wah?_

A tingling feeling overcame him, one he could not put a name to. _Did I die? And Ashley… did we both die? I don't remember dying… well, I guess I wouldn't remember. Would I?_ The jaguar was utterly confused by the situation. He was almost certain that the two skeletons that lay before him… were him and Ashley, but if that was the case, then how was he looking at them? _I wonder if-_

 _BAM!_

Roman's eyes shot open, and were instantly bombarded by raindrops. He shut them again and tried to get out of the downpour. Squinting around, he saw a sizable tree, one big enough to shelter him from all the rain. In a hurry to get out of the rain, he scrambled to his feet and quickly ran over to the tree. Unfortunately, it's leaves still allowed some rain to fall on Roman, but nowhere near as much as before. _Stupid water._ Leaning up against the tree, the jaguar tried to catch his breath as he thought about the dream he had just had. It had been unsettling, after all, no one wants to see their own death. If he had been the kind to believe in such things, he may have thought the dream was a sign for events to come. But he didn't, so he instead shrugged it off as a simple nightmare.

 _BAM!_

The jaguar flinched at the loud sound. He'd always hated thunderstorms. As a cub, he had been scared of the loud peals of thunder, but now the sound only messed with his sensitive ears. He kicked himself for not remembered to bring something to wrap around his ears or stuff them with, like cloth. He had only had time to grab the map… _The map!_

He sat up quickly and got onto his knees, hunching over as he took the parchment out of his pocket. Carefully pulling it out, his heart dropped to see that the majority of it was soaked. It wasn't a complete loss, most of it was still useable, but large chunks were smeared, and some areas were torn. _Uugh._ Attempting to keep it dry, he curled his body into a ball, back to the rain, and put the map close to his chest.

As the minutes ticked by, his stomach rumbled, and he was reminded of the inopportune moment of escape due to his lack of planning. They had had to run in the middle of the night, and had kept running into the morning, only stopping to wait out the approaching storm. He didn't have food, he didn't have a change of clothes, he didn't have anything. All he had were the clothes on his back and the map. It was too bad. Given the time, he would've actually planned for the escapade, but he hadn't known if he would've had another moment to rescue Ashley. The feast was the only thing that kept all the jaguars in one place. _Oh yeah, Ashley._

He wondered where she was. "Ashl-"

 _BAM!_

His call was interrupted by another loud crash of thunder. Annoyed, he tried calling out again. "Ashley!" Nothing. All he could hear were the large drops of rain hitting the ground. "Ashley!" Still nothing. He didn't want to move for fear of further ruining the map, so instead he stayed put. Figuring she was somewhere near, probably doing the same thing he was, he opted to try and fall back asleep. The storm had disturbed his sleep, and the jaguar was going to need all the energy he could get for the next few days. Closing his eyes, he covered his ears with his paws and slowly managed to drift off into sleep.

* * *

Roman groggily opened his eyes, squinting directly into the sunlight. The storm had finally finished, and everything seemed peaceful. Slowly, he attempted to stand up, but found that his muscles were cramped from being in the incredibly uncomfortable position so long. Finally after reaching a standing position, he stretched, letting out a few groans and squeaks. Relaxing his muscles as well as he could, he could feel his back, which was soaked in water. Looking down at his front side, he saw that his shins and forearms were covered in mud. He tried scraping all the muck off as well as he could, then turned his attention to his map. Fortunately, it had survived the storm without further damage. He let out a sigh of relief, and tucked it back into his shirt. _I gotta be more careful with this._

Roman looked around and observed his surroundings. Beams of sunlight shone brightly from behind the wall of slowly departing clouds. There was a rainbow far off in the distance, and it's light seeped into the forest, illuminating it once again and making the dew droplets on the leaves glisten brilliantly. Aside from the mud, the jaguar appreciated the beauty the storm had brought.

His thoughts soon turned to Ashley, wondering what she thought of the spectacular scene. He looked around, but the fawn was nowhere to be found. "Ashley!" The jaguar's shout echoed throughout the valley, but he heard nothing in response. "Ashley!" He was met with the result. Growing impatient, he started rummaging through the nearby trees, hoping to find the fawn, who was most likely sleeping; there wasn't much time to waste. In the unlikely event that his former friends would come after them, he wanted to be far away. "Ashley!"

As the minutes ticked by, there was still no sign of the deer. Roman began to wonder if they had been pursued and she had been taken, but he quickly dismissed that. He figured that had that been the case, Caden would've gone along, seeking revenge. And if some other group had stumbled upon them, he would've most likely been woken up by the noise or taken as well. Orange fur didn't do much to hide him in all the green of the forest.

Arriving at the last and most favorable of the three most likely situations, though none of them were favorable, he decided that she must've walked off during the storm. He stood there in disbelief and anger. After all he'd done to help, she had left without so much as a goodbye. He had rescued her, he had saved her life, but was she thankful? _Well, probably…_ but she had a bad way of showing it. Roman knew she wasn't going to get very far. He still had the map, and he doubted she knew the area well enough to get around safely. His camp was quite a distance away from hers, a good four hour run, and he was sure she had no knowledge of the area. Without directions, she was most likely going to run right into a group of predators.

The jaguar weighed his options. He had already helped her escape, and in doing so saved her life, so he had already fulfilled his main goal. But he had also wanted to see her home, and without his help, she might never make it there. That would ruin everything and nullify all his previous efforts. Roman argued with himself, switching sides over and over in his head. After pulling on his ears numerous times, the jaguar finally made up his mind; he would go after her. But his time, he would make sure she stayed with him.

He looked down at his map, putting himself in Ashley's hooves, wondering where he would go if he was trying to get away from carnivores and back to his home. They were in a valley, and it was quite large. Since she presumably had no prior knowledge of the area, she'd probably want to get to higher ground to get a good vantage point. He gazed up at the mountains surrounding him, looking for one that looked easy enough to climb, but was still tall enough to be worth climbing. Eventually, he settled on a mountain that was covered in trees, but not very steep or rocky.

The jaguar began to stretch, loosening up his muscles. He stared down the mountain, mentally preparing himself for the arduous run ahead of him. The sun had begun to set, and the clouds had changed from gray to brilliant colors of orange and pink. Unfortunately, he had to run in the direction of the setting sun, so he had to squint to see, but that wouldn't last very long as the sun would dip behind the mountain soon enough.

* * *

The sun soon fell behind the mountain and the forest had started to darken as Roman ran toward the mountain. As he approached the base, he came upon a clearing in the trees. It was rather large, filled only with tall grass. Stopping for a moment to rest and catch his breath, he perked his ears up, listening for any mammals that might be around him. If his map was correct, then there was a predator camp not far, one belonging to otters. They weren't large mammals, but in numbers, they posed quite a threat.

At first, his ears didn't pick up on any significant sounds. Relaxing, he stood up from his crouched position and started to inspect the immediate area. A little ways away from where he stood, the grass was trampled, probably where a mammal had come and entered the brush. It looked like it had happened recently, but since the grass wasn't completely crushed to the ground, the jaguar assumed it had only been a few mammals at most.

Suddenly, the sound of rustling plants reached his ears, and he dropped back down so he was crouching. His eyes darted in all directions, attempting to pinpoint the source of the sound. A few seconds later, the rustling continued. Though, it wasn't the wind which was also blowing gently, rustling the grass. The artificial sound was slightly louder, but it was being distorted by the breeze. Roman determined the general area the sound was coming from, but he couldn't see what it was. Even his night vision didn't help him.

Slowly he got on all fours and let his primal instincts take over. The jaguar crawled forward, putting one paw in front of the other, making his way toward the sound. Taking care to remain as quiet as possible and retain his element of surprise, he entered the brush, hoping to catch his potential opponent off guard. He kept his ears trained toward the sound, listening for any sign that it knew he was there. Luckily, it seemed as though the mammal wasn't moving very much.

Making his way through the brush, successfully keeping quiet, he neared the source of the noise. Roman was close enough now to see the outline of the mammal through the blades of grass. It wasn't big, so whatever it was, he wouldn't have a hard time fighting it. Slowing down, he eventually got into pouncing range, and as his night vision adjusted, their details on the shadow suddenly became visible. The jaguar relaxed; his hunt for her had come to a rather convenient ending.

The jaguar almost stood up and approached Ashley, but he stopped himself to think about his two options. He could stand up and approach her, make himself known so she wouldn't fear the sudden presence of the predator. However, if she had run to get away from him, that tactic might not work, as she could simply try running away again. Alternatively, he could pounce on the fawn, but that was likely to scare her and cause her to scream, which brought with it the possibility of attracting unwanted guests. Either way, Roman was sure he could catch her, but he knew that she would in all probability run off, so he'd have to pounce on her anyway.

He didn't want to pounce as he knew it was terrifying for prey, and he was trying to build a relationship of trust with the fawn. She had already feared for her life, then he had rescued her, but clearly she still didn't trust him in the slightest or she wouldn't have run. Leaping on her like he would his meal would most certainly scare her beyond belief. Even though she'd find out rather quickly who her aggressor was, Roman was convinced it would sever whatever connection of trust the two had in the first place, and he'd have to start the whole process all over again.

After much contemplation over what he should do, Roman decided that he would simply tackle her right there. It would hopefully be quieter and the struggle could be resolved more quickly that way… That was, of course, until he heard a _snap!_ Surprised, he snapped his head downward to see what had caused the sudden sound. Exasperated, he saw that it was a dead twig he had broken. Looking back up at Ashley, he saw that she had heard the twig break too, and her ears had flown up and were now standing erect in alert, listening for any danger. She slowly turned her head, and eventually they made eye contact. With his night vision, he could see the sheer terror in her eyes, and it was clear that the fawn didn't recognize him. There was a moment of stillness as both mammals waited for the other one to do something.

Suddenly, without warning, Roman leaped forward. At the same time, Ashley had begun to run, so the jaguar barely missed her. He crashed into the ground and slid through the dirt. Using his claws to stop himself, he looked in the direction the fawn had run off. She already had a considerable head start, so he grunted and jumped to his feet after her. He had no trouble following her, his paws lightly thumping the ground, as her hooves were pounding away at the ground, making her easy to track.

Roman was gradually gaining ground, and eventually he got within tackling distance. He waited just a moment longer to be sure he wouldn't miss before he lept through the air, colliding with Ashley's backside and bringing her to the ground. She let out a bawl in distress, and tried desperately to squirm out of his grasp. Her movements caused Roman to accidentally scratch her with his claws, escalating her efforts to be free. It was a downhill battle for her, and the jaguar knew all the ruckus had to potential to attract other mammals, so he was trying to minimize to noise, but it was to no avail.

"Ashley! Ashley, it's me, Roman!" She continued to bawl, unwilling to give up. Unable to get her to quiet down and stop struggling, the jaguar looked around for something to hit her with, in the hope that it would knock her out. Finding nothing of use, he resorted to trying to get her to open her eyes and focus so she could see it was him. He grabbed ahold of her shoulders and began to shake her. "Ashley, stop!" He slapped her across the face and continued shaking her. She was attempting to hit him with her hooves, but most of her throws were missing their mark.

Realizing that his efforts weren't getting anywhere very fast, Roman stopped his violent approach and instead tried simply to keep her still. He wrapped his arms around the fawn and squeezed, significantly limiting her movement, though she still tried. Eventually, she gave up and stopped resisting, though she started to cry, fearing that this was her end. The jaguar finally had a chance to talk to her. He waited a moment before speaking up, still keeping his hold tight.

"Hey Ashley…" The young doe opened her eyes to face her aggressor, and Roman could see a small hint of relief in her eyes, though it wasn't much. She took deep breaths to calm herself, and the jaguar let her do it in silence. After a few moments of calm, he spoke up again.

"Okay, I'm gonna let you go so we can talk, but please, promise me you won't run… It's pretty clear I can catch you anyway." He flinched at how menacing that statement had sounded, but it didn't seem like she had heard. In response, Ashley nodded her head ever so slightly, and Roman released her. He got off of her and sat down. They both rested in the tall grass and simply breathed, catching their breaths. After a few moments, it became clear to the jaguar that Ashley had nothing to say, so he started the conversation.

"So, um, I'm sorry that I had to do that… I realize that you're probably shaken up about everything." He was unsure of how to console her, as he had never felt as much fear as she had in the past two days. Waiting for a response, he looked around, and eventually his eyes came to rest on her clothes, and he quickly realized that blood was staining them. It surprised him she hadn't noticed yet.

He jumped up, startling Ashley. "Don't panic, but I think I accidentally scratched you in our scuffle." The fawn looked down, and though she couldn't see anything due to the darkness, the realization that she was wounded caused her to feel the pain. She started whimpering, and the sound broke Roman's heart. He hadn't been trying to hurt her, but his aggressive tactics had accomplished just that. Almost going over to hug her in an attempt to soothe her like his mom would've done, he stopped, figuring that might scare her.

"No no no, don't cry. They don't look that bad, trust me."

Ashley sniffed. "Why did you ha- have to do this?"

"Well, it was an accident, I didn't mean-"

"No! I mean coming after me." She put her head in her hooves in frustration. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"My plan was and still is to get you back to your family. You were going to be eaten, I'm sure you had that figured out, so I helped you escape, but I couldn't just stop there. There was and still is almost no chance you could make it back on your own." Roman threw his paws up in frustration, annoyed that Ashley was questioning his good deeds. "Do you even know what's around us right now?" She slowly shook her head. The jaguar continued in a more aggressive manner. "You see? There are seven predator camps around us. _Seven!_ You could've just walked right into one." He sighed, toning down his approach. "Look… I'm not trying to be mean, or scare you, any of that. It's just… I threw away my life to help you, and… and when you ran, I felt a hint of regret."

Roman looked back in the direction of his home, imagining what the other jaguars were doing. "I had a good life. I was happy. Everything was provided, I never went hungry, as ominous as that may sound to you. But I had never been told why my life was so great, and I never questioned it. I went on that raid to your village, and I captured y- some loot." He had almost let it slip, but he caught himself just in time. Taking a deep breath, he finished his explanation.

"Although time has moved on and the methods have changed, the reality of life remains the same. Predators hunt prey for food, that's just the way it is. But it's one thing to see meat cooked and prepared for you," The fawn gagged at the thought. "But to see that it had once been alive, and it had feelings and mammals it cared about… I don't know. As strange as it seems, I-I thought it was wrong to be killing each other, and to be honest, the night that I helped you, there was meat... but for the first time in my life, I didn't have an appetite for it." The young doe wondered if it had been the deer she had seen dragged through the halls.

"Is… Is that why you help me?" Ashley asked, slowly growing more comfortable with the jaguar being near her.

"Yeah, that's why I helped you." There were other unspoken reasons, but Roman didn't feel that he should reveal those at the current time. It would make things awkward between them, and right now, he needed her to be completely focused on getting back to her home. He looked back at her. "So all I ask in return is that you don't make this any more difficult than it already is."

"Alright." Ashley whispered her response. Both mammals spent the next few minutes in silence, looking up at the night sky. The sun had completely disappeared, leaving only the moon and stars to light the earth. Unfortunately for the fawn, there was a layer of clouds covering many of the stars, keeping the ground in a dark state. It was a peaceful scene, the first she had had in the past two days. She glanced over at Roman. In the darkness, she was only able to make out his silhouette. He sat there, perfectly still, gazing towards the heavens.

The young doe was confused. She felt a strange feeling of trust being around him. All her life, she had feared predators, but now here she was, sitting right next to one. He hadn't tried to hurt or eat her, so those were good signs. Still, she hadn't seen him hungry, so she wouldn't let her guard completely down just yet.

Ashley decided to strike up conversation once again. "Sooo, how did you find me?"

Roman shrugged. "It wasn't hard, I just used common sense. You needed a good viewpoint, and you didn't take the map." He patted the spot where the map was under his shirt. "So I figured you'd try coming to this mountain. And besides, stalking is in my nature."

The fawn nodded in response and started sniffing around the grass, looking for food. She started to nibble on the tips of the grass, and her actions reminded Roman that he hadn't eaten for quite a while. His stomach let out a low grumble, and he groaned from the hunger pains. Closing his eyes and holding his stomach, he complained to Ashley. "Uuuh, I haven't eaten in sooo long."

He heard her stop eating, so he opened his eyes and looked over to her. She was completely still, and she looked petrified. Confused, he asked her what was wrong, "What?" But she didn't respond. It took a few seconds, but Roman realized why she looked so scared. He chuckled. "Ha! I'm sorry… Guess I have to watch what I say, at least for now. Look, this whole trust thing won't work unless we trust each other, obviously, and I want it to work, I really do. So here's what I'll do." He reached into his shirt and pulled out the map, quickly reaching over to give it to the fawn. In surprise, she flinched back, so he raised his free paw in the air and continued more slowly. Cautiously, she extended her hoof and grabbed the map.

"Alright, so, now you have to trust that I won't eat you, and I have to trust that you won't run off with the map." Roman smiled, hoping his action would relieve some of Ashley's trepidations. "I don't know if you know this or not, but predators _do_ eat other predators if given the chance. Unfortunately for me, predators don't only eat prey anymore, so I if get lost and they find me, I'll probably be eaten. So I'd appreciate it if you'd stick with me." He looked into her eyes, searching for a sign that she would listen to his appeal.

Ashley looked down at the map. If what Roman had said was true, then it must've taken quite a bit a trust to give it to her. She wasn't completely sold on the idea of trusting him as it went against her better judgement, but she decided to give him a chance. Looking up to meet his gaze and agreed. "I suppose you've earned that much."

"Perfect!" The jaguar's lips pulled back into a tight grin, exposing his long fangs, oblivious to the fact that the sight was unsettling to the fawn. Her eyes widened, but instead of calling him out, she simply smiled politely and looked back down at the map, then over to the grass she had been nibbling on.

"So, I'm guessing you don't eat plants."

Roman shook his head. "Nope, never have. And I don't ever plan to. Well, I might if I were going to starve to death, but we're not in that situation right now."

Ashley swatted at a mosquito on her neck, smashing it. She scraped the dead bug onto a rock. "What about fruits? They're pretty good."

He shrugged. "They're ok, but I don't ever feel full after eating them. I'm pretty sure I have to eat meat to survive."

"How's that going to work?"

Roman sat in silent contemplation, thinking of an answer. He realized he didn't have one. "I actually don't know. I didn't plan any of this out, this truly is an extempore venture. Um, I can't eat mammals anymore, as that would go against my conscience. Fish could probably work, I don't think they're sentient."

"Alright." Ashley studied the map. "Are there any rivers nearby? We could go to one in the morning."

"You know what, I think there may just be one." He looked down at the map Ashley was holding, and spotted a small stream on the way to the mountain. The jaguar clasped his paws together. "Yup, there's one that we'll come to on our way. Until then, we can just-" He stopped in the middle of his sentence, and his ears rose up.

The fawn didn't know what had happened. "What?"

He raised his paw, signalling for her to be quiet. Listening for the sound he thought he heard, he slowly rose up to his head was nearing the top of the grass. In the distance he could see the faint glow of fire, and it was growing bigger, coming toward them. He reached down and signaled for Ashley to give him the map, all without looking away from the light. She set the parchment in his paw, and he quickly examined it, searching for where they were. Finding their location, he shivered from anxiousness. "Ashley, we are apparently very close to a village belonging to Bengal tigers. They are much bigger than me, even the smallest ones outweigh me, and it looks like there's quite a few of them coming our way."

Her heart filled with panic. "What do we do?"

Roman frantically looked around, searching for a place to hide. They were surrounded by grass, but there were trees not too far away. He pointed at them. "Carefully crawl over there, to the trees. Don't move too fast, tigers can see in the dark."

Full of fear, she got low to the ground and started inching her way over to the tree line, the jaguar right behind her. They both moved ever so slowly, desperately trying to remain quiet and out of the tiger's sight.

Nearly reaching the edge of the forest, Ashley dared to peek over the plants and saw the group of tigers. They were a lot closer than she had thought, and the distance between them was decreasing fast.

* * *

 **Yay, I did it, a third chapter! Hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry this took so long. I'm visiting family, and when you have a couple hundred relatives (no joke), things get pretty hectic. (** **Also I procrastinate** **) But that'll be over soon, so future chapters will hopefully not take so long, even with school starting.**

 **I'd like to say thank you for 10 followers :O Seriously though, 10 may not seem like a lot, but it's more people that enjoy something I made than I've ever had, so that's cool. :)**

 **Unnamed being -** Alright, let's see how it goes. And yeah, I hadn't seen any stories with 'pre-zootopia' as a theme, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

 **Walrusguy -** Sure thing, just give me the details. And thank you, I hope to write more, hopefully faster.

 **ExMarkSpot -** That's an interesting character… I like the personality you described, we'll see about the appearance. :P

 **That's it for the reviews. If you'd like to leave a suggestion, drop a review, they're always welcome. And yeah, if you liking the story so far and haven't, please consider leaving a follow/favorite.**

 **Thank you to Astorathgrim for suggestions and editing.**

 **Til I upload again. *waves***


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